– Rescue on Everest –
The quake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest which buried part of base camp in a cascade of snow and rock, killing at least 18 people Saturday on the world’s highest mountain.
The US State Department confirmed Monday that two of its citizens were among those killed on the mountain, adding that they were aware of reports that two further Americans had died.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed that an Australian woman also perished on Everest.
Rescue helicopters on Monday airlifted climbers from higher altitudes on the mountain where they were stranded above crevasses and icefalls, after evacuating scores of seriously injured from base camp the day before.
Hundreds of mountaineers had gathered at Everest at the start of the annual climbing season, and the real scale of the disaster there has been difficult to evaluate so far.
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